In order to make it possible to retrieve the bottles, depalletization devices are able to break down the pallet into individual layers and to disassemble the individual layers into the respective boxes.
Depalletization devices are known that essentially comprise the following:                A first and a second entry conveyor, which feed the pallet to be disassembled to an extraction station;        An extraction/unloading station that extracts the upper layer from the pallet arranged corresponding to the extraction station of the entry conveyor;        A first intermediate conveyor onto which the extraction/unloading head places the above-mentioned upper layer extracted from the pallet; and        A second intermediate conveyor that is located adjacent to and behind the first conveyor and that receives the layer from the first conveyor and advances it by means of a pusher.        
More specifically, the second intermediate conveyor transfers the layers that are extracted from the pallet one after the other along a first axis.
The depalletization devices of the known type also include:                A first and a second exit conveyor that are parallel to one another and that respectively transfer a first group of boxes from the layer and a second group of boxes from the same layer parallel to the first axis; and        A dividing station that receives the layer from the first intermediate conveyor, divides it into a first group and a second group, and transfers the first group and the second group respectively to the first exit conveyor and the second exit conveyor.        
More specifically, the dividing station transfers the first group of boxes into a first line and along a second axis that is orthogonal to the first axis, in such a way as to transfer the first group of boxes onto the first exit conveyor.
Similarly, the dividing station moves the second group of boxes ahead into a second line that runs opposite to the first line and along the second axis, in such a way as to transfer the second group of boxes onto the second exit conveyor.
More specifically, the dividing station comprises a number of first and second driven rollers that are able to rotate around the respective third axes that are parallel to the first axis.
The first rollers are located on the side of the first exit conveyor and rotate in the first line so as to transfer the first group of boxes onto the first exit conveyor.
By contrast, the second rollers are located on the side of the second exit conveyor and rotate in the second line so as to transfer the second group of boxes onto the second exit conveyor.
The first (second) exit conveyor also respectively receives the boxes of the first (second) group with their respective arrangements, which are determined from how the above-mentioned boxes were assembled in the corresponding layer of the pallet.
These arrangements are generally not the arrangement that is desired at the exit from the depalletization station.
In order to arrange the boxes at the exit from the depalletization device in the desired way, for example, with the short sides orthogonal to the first axis, the depalletization device of the known type comprises a number of fixed obstacles that are located in a position that is above the exit conveyors and against which the boxes from the first group and second group bump while being transferred from the respective exit conveyors.
The bumping against the fixed obstacles determines the rotation of the boxes but does not put the boxes into the desired arrangement.
The depalletization devices of the type described above turn out to be especially complex to build and maintain and especially bulky, particularly owing to the fact that it is necessary to provide a large number of conveyors, each of which is of non-negligible size.
It has therefore become a requirement in this field to make the depalletization device more compact and at the same time to simplify the process of building and maintaining the depalletization device itself.
The depalletization devices of the known type as described above also have considerable room for improvement with regard to the precision and repeatability with which the boxes are oriented according to the pre-established design.
In particular, it is possible to identify in the layer of the pallet a number of rows of boxes that are parallel to the first axis and thus to the third axes of the first and second rollers of the dividing station.
These rows are separated inside the dividing station by means of the first and second rollers.
If boxes from different rows rest on the same first or second rollers, the dividing station of the depalletization devices of the known type request additional auxiliary devices to complete the separation of the above-mentioned rows.
In other words, the depalletization devices of the known type are optimized for a limited number of formats of the layers, that is, for a limited number of geometric arrangements of the rows of the layers, and thus these devices have little flexibility.
It has also been found in the industry that there is a requirement to make depalletization devices that are especially flexible, in particular with regard to the ability to break down layers into rows of boxes in any format.